Indian travellers prefer domestic destinations

Over the past couple of years, more and more youngsters are taken by the travel bug. Travelling has finally become an activity of leisure, a fulfillment of a hobby, a means of relaxation and in some cases, a means to find oneself; it’s no more an annual family vacation.

So, where are Indians travelling? The global search engine, Skyscanner, has cumulated travel data from January to June 2016 to reveal interesting insights in the travel pattern of Indians. As a comparison to 2015, the results are reflective of the change in the preferences of the Indian traveller.

Commenting on these trends, Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, Skyscanner India said, “The Indian traveller is now more informed and aware of his/her travel options. With the multitude of options and offers, Skyscanner aims to track the change in travel choices in order to gain a better insight of the consumers, at large.

Globally, we have more than 50 million monthly users and over 40 million app downloads and this puts us in a position to be able to identify trends and travel patterns across regions successfully. A half yearly round up also reveals how the year in travel has shaped so far and gives us an indication of what to expect in the year going forward. Additionally, consumers, themselves, would be intrigued to know how their selections are impacting the industry.”

Domestic vs International travel

To begin with, Skyscanner reported an overall YoY increase of 80 per cent in search for holiday destinations. While international destinations are still most searched, Skyscanner observed a marked increase of 11.89 per cent in the search for domestic destinations from 2015 to 2016.
Within the scope of international destinations, United States (8.42 per cent), United Arab Emirates (4.83 per cent) and the United Kingdom (4.33 per cent), which remained the most popular for the Indian vacationer.

Low Cost Carrier vs Full Service Airlines

The first half of 2016 noted an increase in travel planning with low cost carriers. Skyscanner reveals a yearly surge of 34.9 per cent, indicating a growing preference of budget airlines by Indian travelers. Full service flights have witness less YoY change since 2015. Reasons for this change in taste could be seen in an increase in cost saving deals and offers by many low cost carriers that drew more customers.

Most travelled month
Once again, May turned out to be the favorite month for travel planners as it saw the maximum number of searches in 2016 so far. In fact, since 2015, travel planning and search for destinations in May hiked by six per cent this year. With the summer break at the onset and fair weather in most of the popular holiday spots in the next two months, May is one of the best times to plan and look for places to be, instead of at home and in the heat.